Damian: Son of Batman

As part of the DC Animated Original Movie series, Warner Bros. has released Son of Batman.  Available today on Blu-ray, DVD, and streaming services like iTunes and Amazon, the film is an adaptation of the 2006 comic story “Batman and Son”, detailing the revelation that Batman has fathered a son.

Batman and Son collected edition cover

In 2006, Grant Morrison, who is not only my favorite comic writer, but also one of the best, took over writing duties for the main Batman comic title.  He and artist Andy Kubert began the “Batman and Son” (which runs through Batman #655-658) storyline with Batman, on vacation in London, being attacked by a hoard of “ninja Man-Bats” (as in ninjas that have taken the same serum that turns Dr. Kirk Langstrom into one of the Dark Knight’s villains, the Man-Bat).  Defeated, Batman regains consciousness and is confronted by his former lover Talia, the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, revealing that she had given birth to a son some (8, maybe?) years earlier and that Batman was the child’s father.  

What an adorable little douche

Batman brings the child, named Damian, back to Gotham where Damian meets Alfred and the current Robin, Tim Drake.  Damian and Tim are immediately at odds as Damian wants to assume a place a Batman’s side that Tim currently occupies, not only as Robin, but as Bruce Wayne’s adopted son.  Having left Wayne Manor, Damian returns to the Batcave to find Tim looking for him.  Damian reveals that he “fought crime tonight.  Crime lost.”

Damian hadn't gotten the "no killing" memo

At the sight of the beheaded D-List Batman villain, The Spook, Tim tells Damian that killing is not the way of Batman and his allies.  After a physical altercation, Damian breaks into the glass memorial case that holds the Robin costume of the deceased Jason Todd (we’ll get to that story some other time).  Wearing the old Robin costume, Damian turns on the Bat-signal to summon Batman.  Enraged at Damian for disobeying him, Batman reluctantly brings Damian along with him to Gibraltar off the coast of Spain where Talia is holding the wife of the British Prime Minister and plans to trade her life for control of the island.  In the final confrontation, Damian appeals to his parents to attempt to get them to be a family together, but in the midst of this, the British Royal Navy bomb the area allowing Talia to escape with Damian in the explosion.

 

Batman and Robin #1 (June 2009), a favorite of mine

After that first “Batman and Son” story had concluded, another series of stories began in which Batman is considered to be dead.  In his place, Dick Grayson, the original Robin and now Nightwing, takes up the cape and cowl to become the new Dark Knight.  During this time, Damian becomes the new Robin to help Grayson in carrying on his father’s legacy with the two starring in their own series, Batman and Robin (pictured above).  Obviously, Batman didn’t stay dead for long, but these are all stories for another day.

Son of Batman cover art

Now, all of that served as the basis for the animated film, Son of Batman.  Seeing as this just came out today, I’m not going to spoil too much of it, but I do want to give a look at a few issues that I disliked as well as a few cool Easter eggs that I found.

Damian, the Boy Wonder as depicted in the new animated film

Firstly, the film deviates pretty far from the source material.  Tim Drake’s role in the story is assumed by Dick Grayson (as Nightwing).  There’s no mention of Jason Todd or his death and the costume in the glass case in the Batcave is said to be that of Grayson’s when he was Robin.  I completely understand why these things were changed for the film.  To explain that there had been multiple Robins before Damian and that one had actually died would be too complicated for a 75-minute animated feature.  It is hinted that Talia drugged Batman the night that Damian was conceived rather than Batman consenting (which is how it was in the comic).  I guess I’m okay with that, too.  I’d love for the comic stories to be put directly on film without any alterations, but they come with entirely too much back story for that to be plausible.  That said, my biggest problem with this is the artistic style.  It is decidedly an anime-inspired style of art and I have never been the biggest fan of that.  The character models are great and the backgrounds are solid, but the action scenes are…  Weird at times.  Maybe just a little too over-the-top for my taste.  I realize this is in criticism of a film about a guy that dresses up as a bat, so “over-the-top” comes with the territory.

Nightwing!

All that complaining aside, there was a lot of stuff I really enjoyed.  Mainly how the film is able to perfectly capture just how much of a little shit Damian is in the comics.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovable.  But he really is an arrogant little brat.  And I love him for it.  Nightwing’s inclusion gets a pass because of how awesome he is.  Alfred’s seemingly endless string of quips toward Damian is amazing.  Outside of Batman fighting a winged monkey that could possibly be seen as homage to The Wizard of Oz, there are three really cool Easter eggs caught my eye as well.  First, the use of Warner Bros. archived cartoons was pretty cool.  Warner Bros. are the parent company of DC Comics, so seeing a clip of an old Looney Tunes was fun.  The communication device in the Batmobile made the exact same alert tone as the Bat-phone in the 60’s TV show that Commissioner Gordon used to contact Batman.  Finally, the Bat-signal in the film matches that of the one seen on the cover of The Dark Knight Returns #3 from 1986 (shown below).

The Bat-signal in Son of Batman (pictured left) compared to the cover of The Dark Knight Returns #3 (pictured right)

Like I said, I don’t want to give away any of the plot, but I will say that I really enjoyed it.  I’m going to sit down and watch it again tonight to give a deeper viewing, but at this point, I’d give it a solid 7.5 stars out of 10.  I do want to mention probably the best line of the film, though.  Delivered by Damian: “Leave, harlots!”

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

Sources: excerpts from primary source interviews; Wikipedia

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